These lamps created by polish artist, Calabarte, are absolutely fabulous. They aren't just beautiful to look at when unlit, but turn them on and... wow... instant, stunningly beautiful wall art. One-of-a-kind pieces, they are made from dried gourds which are hollowed out and then intricately carved to allow light to pass through.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Over the past month, I've been saving up. My two cents worth is now a dime a dozen... a baker's dozen.

1) Cursive is a dying art.

2) A coin toss is sacred.

3) I've noticed more and more people spending a lot of time snapping
pix and videoing experiences, which makes me wonder if we are missing
out on experiencing the experience.

4) I like equal opportunity slang. Take "bastiches" for instance.

5) No wonder productivity is down and our economy is in the pooper. I
do believe there is at least in small part, a direct correlation
between our economic woes and the amount of people who spend time on
facebook during normal working hours. I find the huge number of posts
from 8 to 5 fascinating, and quite telling.

6) No one should have more than 1 indoor cat... N-O-one.

7) Concerns about health, the environment, and ethical eating do not
require giving up meat. What they do require is a new ethics of eating
animals: one rooted in moderation, mindfulness, and respect. Rather
than urging people to consume only plants, doesn't it make more sense
to encourage them to eat an omnivorous diet that is healthy, ethical,
and ecologically sound?

8) It's quite a different experience when a well-spoken intellectual
peppers their language with f-bombs, than when a not-so-well-spoken
person does the same. The former comes across as fascinating and
expressive, while the later comes off as a complete idiot.

9) I now know what to call these musical loops in my head... Earworms ~
an inability to dislodge a song and prevent it from repeating itself in
one's head. Also known as, brain worms, sticky music, cognitive itch
and stuck song syndrome.

10) We are so privately wealthy and publicly poor.

11) We just don't make smart people like we used to.
12) The widespread corruption in politics is more than citizens are
willing to acknowledge and address. Apathy is a cancer in our society.
13) "The Cheese stands alone." ~ Omar

Financial planner, Carl Richards shares his own personal financial experiences to help us make more thoughtful and informed financial decisions in our lives. In his newly released book, Behavior Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things With Money he uses simple sketches to get his point across. Richards discovered a phenomenon he termed “Behavior Gap” after following his clients portfolios. He noticed that individuals have dramatically lower returns on their investments than the average mutual fund. He recognized a conundrum we seem to have when it comes to weighing our needs against our wants, leading many of us to live beyond our means. Richards recommends not focusing on things we cannot control, and to even take a break from media to focus on the important things in our lives.

More of Carl Richards’ insightful and easy to understand sketches can be found at BehaviorGap.com